Lady Rosamond's Secret eBook

What a world is ours. What a problem is life.
Is there any word in the English language more suggestive?
Life—­its surroundings, aspects, all its
outward associations. Is this the limit?
Would to Heaven in some instances it were so, that
the end be thus. What a hollow mockery does it
impart to the heart of Lady Rosamond, whose cause of
misery remains as yet half told. Life—­a
troubled dream, a waking reality, yet we cling to
it with fond delusive hopes. What astute reasoner
will solve, the intricacies of this problem?
Can one who has suffered? The muffled throes
of crushed hearts are the only response. God pity
them!

CHAPTER XI.

FREDERICTON: ITS BUILDINGS, PUBLIC HOUSES, AMUSEMENTS, ETC

The year following the great fire was marked by great
progress throughout the Province. Farmers were
again in homes which they had built upon the site
of those destroyed by the devouring element. Fields
once more showed signs of cultivation. With Sir
Howard Douglas to stimulate the prosperity of his
people, progress was the watchword—­the
general impulse.

Fredericton, like the phoenix, had arisen from its
ashes; buildings arose in rapid succession. Wooden
houses of moderate pretensions lined Queen and King
streets, from Westmorland to Carleton street, the limit
of the burnt district.

Business was carried on by a few upright and enterprising
merchants, foremost of whom stood Rankine & Co., the
leading firm of the city. This establishment
was situated on Queen street, between Northumberland
and Westmorland streets, in which was constantly pouring
an unlimited source of supplies for conducting the
immense lumber trade established by this firm, whose
name shall be remembered while New Brunswick shall
continue to produce one stick of timber. Many
farmers of that time yet have occasion to refer to
the generosity which characterized this long established
firm. Many yet bless the name of Rankine & Co.

The public buildings of our city were in keeping with
the private residences. No Barker House or Queen
Hotel adorned our principal street as now; no City
Hall, Normal School, or Court House. On the present
site of the Barker House was a long two-story wooden
building, designated as Hooper’s Hotel under
the proprietorship of Mr. Hooper. This was the
only accommodation for public dinners, large parties,
balls, etc In this hotel the St. George Society annually
celebrated their anniversary by a grand dinner party
where heart-stirring speeches, toasts and patriotic
songs, were the general order of programme, of which
the following verses are an example. They were
composed in April 1828, and sung by one of the members
of this society at a public dinner that year, after
the toast of “Lord Aylmer and the Colonies.”
The idea was suggested to the young law student by
looking upon a map showing the territory explored
by the Cabots and called Cabotia. The writer will
be readily recognized as one of New Brunswick’s
most eloquent, gifted, and favored statesmen, recently
holding the highest position in the Province:—­